A longitudinal analysis of associations between traffic-related air pollution with asthma, allergies and sensitization in the GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohorts

Elaine Fuertes; Marie Standl; Josef Cyrys; Dietrich Berdel; Andrea von Berg; Carl-Peter Bauer; Ursula Krämer; Dorothea Sugiri; Irina Lehmann; Sibylle Koletzko; Chris Carlsten; Michael Brauer; Joachim Heinrich

doi:10.7717/peerj.193

A longitudinal analysis of associations between traffic-related air pollution with asthma, allergies and sensitization in the GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohorts

PeerJ. 2013 Nov 7:1:e193. doi: 10.7717/peerj.193. eCollection 2013.

Authors

Elaine Fuertes¹, Marie Standl, Josef Cyrys, Dietrich Berdel, Andrea von Berg, Carl-Peter Bauer, Ursula Krämer, Dorothea Sugiri, Irina Lehmann, Sibylle Koletzko, Chris Carlsten, Michael Brauer, Joachim Heinrich

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health , Neuherberg , Germany ; School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia , Vancouver , Canada.

Abstract

Background. There is a need to study whether the adverse effects of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) on childhood asthma and allergic diseases documented during early-life persist into later childhood. This longitudinal study examined whether TRAP is associated with the prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinitis and aeroallergen sensitization in two German cohorts followed from birth to 10 years. Materials. Questionnaire-derived annual reports of doctor diagnosed asthma and allergic rhinitis, as well as eye and nose symptoms, were collected from 6,604 children. Aeroallergen sensitization was assessed for 3,655 children who provided blood samples. Associations between these health outcomes and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particles with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 µg/m(3) (PM2.5) mass, PM2.5 absorbance and ozone, individually estimated for each child at the birth, six and 10 year home addresses, were assessed using generalized estimation equations including adjustments for relevant covariates. Odds ratios [95% confidence intervals] per increase in interquartile range of pollutant are presented for the total population and per geographical area (GINI/LISA South, GINI/LISA North and LISA East, Germany). Results. The risk estimates for the total population were generally null across outcomes and pollutants. The area-specific results were heterogeneous. In GINI/LISA North, all associations were null. In LISA East, associations with ozone were elevated for all outcomes, and those for allergic rhinitis and eyes and nose symptom prevalence reached statistical significance (1.30 [1.02, 1.64] and 1.35 [1.16, 1.59], respectively). For GINI/LISA South, two associations with aeroallergen sensitization were significant (0.84 [0.73, 0.97] for NO2 and 0.87 [0.78, 0.97] for PM2.5 absorbance), as well as the association between allergic rhinitis and PM2.5 absorbance (0.83 [0.72, 0.96]). Conclusions. This study did not find consistent evidence that TRAP increases the prevalence of childhood asthma, allergic rhinitis or aeroallergen sensitization in later childhood using data from birth cohort participants followed for 10 years in three locations in Germany. Results were heterogeneous across the three areas investigated.

Keywords: Air pollution; Allergies; Asthma; Birth cohort; Children; Long-term exposure; Traffic.

Grants and funding

GINIplus study was mainly supported for the first three years of the Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology (interventional arm) and Helmholtz Zentrum Munich (former GSF) (observational arm). The four, six, and 10 year follow-up examinations of the GINIplus study were covered from the respective budgets of the 5 study centres (Helmholtz Zentrum Munich (former GSF), Research Institute at Marien-Hospital, Wesel, LMU Munich, TU Munich and from six years onwards also from IUF - Leibniz Research-Institute for Environmental Medicine at the University of Düsseldorf) and a grant from the Federal Ministry for Environment (IUF Düsseldorf, FKZ 20462296). The LISAplus study was mainly supported by grants from the Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology and in addition from Helmholtz Zentrum Munich (former GSF), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Research Institute at Marien-Hospital, Wesel, Pediatric Practice, Bad Honnef for the first two years. The four, six, and 10 year follow-up examinations of the LISAplus study were covered from the respective budgets of the involved partners (Helmholtz Zentrum Munich (former GSF), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Research Institute at Marien-Hospital, Wesel, Pediatric Practice, Bad Honnef, IUF – Leibniz-Research Institute for Environmental Medicine at the University of Düsseldorf) and in addition by a grant from the Federal Ministry for Environment (IUF Düsseldorf, FKZ 20462296). The exposure assessment research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7-2007-2011) under grant agreement number: 211250. Elaine Fuertes was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.